Chapter XI – Which treats of the droll manner in which Watanabe learned how to count.

After the conversation and flashback that constituted the last chapter, Watanabe and Rabanowicz were quiet for the rest of the march. Watanabe, who was a modern man who didn’t partake in much exercise, wasn’t used to having to march all day and was so tired that he didn’t have any desire for more exposition.

Rabanowicz, who was a (according to local standards of modernity) modern woman who had grown in a rural area and had always had to help tend the farms in the village was of a much more durable build compared to Watanabe, despite assumptions that intelligent characters were the physically fragile types. She had a lot more questions to ask to Watanabe about Earth and whatnot, but seeing that he looked as miserable as he was decided that she’d wait until they had stopped and made camp.

And so, the company continued its march forwards. Through the boreal forests, which had formed pockets of swamp in the places where snow had melted, and the occasional patches of open field they marched for an entire day until the sky slowly began slowly turning darker.

Other than the climate, Watanabe also noticed a distinct lack of hostile fauna, also known as monsters in fantastical terms. Throughout the entire journey, the company had not noticed any signs of life other than various wild animals and the occasional traveler passing by.

This is boring, what kind of setting does not have random encounters? Am I just going to march to the capital without any incidents happening, thought Watanabe throughout the whole journey. There needs to be some action, the author can’t be writing all this travelling drudgery just to not lead up to action!

Yet, despite the various pleas of our hero, no action scene had to be written for this chapter. After a peaceful day of marching without any notable incidents, Hans ordered the company to stop and set up camp at an open field.

Watanabe too now had work to do, as he had to help Rabanowicz set up a place to rest per contractual obligations. As he was a modern man, who never had to sleep outdoors in his past life, Watanabe had no idea how to accomplish such a thing.

“By the Divine, do I also need to teach you how the wise men of Kelm would set up camp?” complained Rabanowicz as Watanabe cluelessly fumbled around. “It’ll be faster if I just did this myself instead.”

This is bad, boss is angry, need to find something, frantically thought Watanabe as he went into overdrive, not to make up BS but to find a solution for once. Right, I can just use my network to sort this one out!

“Say, doctor, do you think Hans would mind if I brought a guest over to his tent?” rhetorically questioned Watanabe. “Plus, since he seems to appreciate your work, I think he might be willing to treat an honored guest like you well.”

“You know what, I was thinking about when the penny would drop and you’d remember that you are Hans’ honored guest. So, do you think he’d let me into the tent so that I wouldn’t have to stay under a piece of cloth held up by some sticks and rocks?” replied Rabanowicz with a rhetorical question of her own.

Like so, agreement was reached between two parties as they headed to Hans’ tent, which had already been set up thanks to the labor of others that weren’t Hans.

“Sir Hans, are you here?” asked Watanabe as he and Rabanowicz entered the tent.

“I was about to not be here Sir Watanabe.” replied Hans as he suddenly came face to face with Watanabe. “I’ve got some important business to conduct tonight, so I’d be most grateful if you…” he trailed off when he noticed Rabanowicz next to Watanabe. “Oh, I see that you have some important business to conduct with Lady Rabanowicz! Excuse me then, since I’ll be absent, you two can have the tent for the night!”

“No, Sir Hans it’s- It’s definitely anything like you are thinking about, but thank you for allowing us to use the tent.” replied a flustered Watanabe.

“No no, I get it, it’s a sin to spend private time with a lady before marriage, but I think Brassicus Prima won’t be too mad such a minor infraction.” said Hans in response to Watanabe’s flustered state. “A man must do what he must do to satisfy his lust for literature, even if it means calling heathen ladies for a private session of reading.”

Hans then left the tent, leaving Watanabe and Rabanowicz alone.

“Well then, ignoring the awkward exchange you just had with the captain, it’s time to get working monsieur.” said Rabanowicz as she sat down and took out her journal. “As you can’t seem to read or write in a language that is comprehensible to me, which won’t do in the case of being a computer, your quest for tonight is to learn how to read and write numbers.”

My legs are aching like hell after that march, all I want is to sleep and now I have to go back to elementary school and learn how to write? What did I do that has made me deserving of such a cruel fate, thought Watanabe as he tried to find an excuse to BS his way out of being educated.

“Doctor, before I begin working in earnest, I’d like it if we actually agreed on how much I should be paid for this.” said Watanabe as he found his excuse. I should be able to waste time on negotiation until she gets tired and we have to delay it for another day.

“Oh, that? See, the problem is that the income I receive deviates wildly depending on how the soldiers are feeling that day.” replied Rabanowicz. “Some days everyone is doing fine and they don’t feel like listening to me reading random chapbooks. Some days Boris decides to mix gunpowder with beer and I make enough money to last me a year.”

Then Rabanowicz began making an offer that she deduced Watanabe could refuse, but wouldn’t. “With such uncertain business, I couldn’t just come up with one number that I could promise to be able to pay. So, I have decided that you should get a cut of what I earn, one tenth of it to be exact.”

So how much does that make, wondered Watanabe.

“Before you ask how much I make on average, I calculated it while on the road. This month, on average, I made around a leaf daily.”

Divide twenty by ten, that makes two seeds for me, calculated Watanabe. That is only double the daily earnings of a laborer for someone who is apparently as qualified as me!

Watanabe was used to being underpaid for his labor, but he didn’t want this trend of underpayment to continue in another world. Before he was able to object, Rabanowicz resumed speaking. “Now, that is only a third of what a soldier earns in this company, which might seem low. Unfortunately, that is all I am able to provide to you right now.”

“So, if I am to be so rude as to interrupt, why would I accept such low pay?” semi-rhetorically questioned Watanabe.

“Now, I was getting to that part. Outside of the fact that I’ve already agreed to pay for your lodgings and food, don’t forget that this number is not a number that is static, monsieur.” continued Rabanowicz as she readied to deliver her coup de grâce. “By the will of the Divine the world is ever changing, and if my fortune was ever to change in a positive manner then yours would do the same as well. If you were to say, make sure to work hard and help me in every way you can, then maybe that change of fortune may come soon, the Divine willing.”

So, she’s trying to give me material incentive for me to do my job well, I see, thought Watanabe. This is more like an offer of partnership in a business rather than an offer of employment, one that seems reasonable to be honest. Plus, since I’ll be the one keeping her financial records, she can’t hide her income from me.

“I think I can see from your expression that you’ve found my offer to be reasonable.” replied Rabanowicz as she took out two small jugs from her seemingly bottomless bag and offered one to Watanabe. “This should help relieve you of your tired state so that your education may begin in full force.”

Watanabe took the jug, first smelling it in intention of savoring its scent. Yet, he only found that the liquid inside the jug only held a scent that could only be described as “unpleasant”. “I thought this was supposed to be beer or something, what is this?”

“You know, it is medicine, made out of this and that. It’s a recipe found by the wisest men of Kelm, the unpleasant smell betrays the wondrous effects it will have.”

Can’t be worse than lye water, thought Watanabe as he emptied the cup in one go as to avoid enduring the taste of the medicine. For a minute or two, he noticed no changes, until suddenly the effects of what he had just drunk hit him like a truck.

He no longer felt tired, instead he felt so awoke that it felt like he could forgo sleep for a month. His legs were still aching badly, but he had entered such a state of energy it felt like he could run ten marathons without breaking any sweat. Watanabe, now in his most altered state of mind, felt like he could work until the end of time.

Rabanowicz was in a similar state too, she had drunk from the other jug that contained the same “medicine”, as Watanabe saw her smiling for the first time. “’Tis great, isnt’t, monsieur? Shelmiy Bocze, such a wondrous thing… Aaanyways! Those who are idle are those who are… There was an idiom starting like that, I think. No matter, it’s time for studying monsieur!”

“Yes, doctor!”

Rabanowicz pointed at the corresponding number on her journal as she began teaching Watanabe how to count. “Now, this, this is one. There is two… There is one two in this page? Innit funny that there are not two twos but one two.” She and Watanabe paused for a moment to laugh at her stupid joke. “Then there is three…” continued Rabanowicz as she spent the entire night instructing Watanabe while the pair laughed at the stupidest and most low-brow jokes that had ever been made on this other world.